Money, Notoriety, and Rivieras
by Luna Darkside
Summary: In which Shinichi is a world-famous detective, Kaito is a world-famous actor, and the world just really wants them to get together. /ShinKai & KaiShin, postcanon, oneshot, complete/


_Because I just really wanted to write a famous!Kaito and famous!Shinichi fic. And then it morphed into this mess. Seems to be a constant theme with my fics._

 _The format is a bit odd_ – _there are articles, Twitter conversations, blog posts, etc. tossed in. Most of the formatting and whatnot should be fairly understandable (although I'm not that well-versed in social media and I don't even have a Twitter, so, uh, yeah), although the at-signs in the Twitter part got eaten by the site. But, well. I did my best._

 _Warnings include shounen-ai, possible grammar mistakes / general errors, Shinichi and Kaito being idiots, my terrible attempts at journalistic writing, etc. Set about ~10-11 years past the current timeline (Shinichi, Kaito, Aoko, etc. are ~26-27). Title from Lana Del Rey's "Without You," despite that it's pretty much the opposite of this fic in tone. But. Yeah._

 _Enjoy! - Luna_

 **Money, Notoriety, and Rivieras**

* * *

 ** _DETECTIVE KUDOU SHINICHI ARRIVES IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: MEETING ACTOR KUROBA KAITO?_** _  
by_ _Jenifer August_ | _8:04 p.m._ | _October 3_

 _LOS ANGELES – At approximately 4:25 p.m. today, Kudou Shinichi, a private investigator known for working with various police forces across the world and his assistance in high-profile cases (see:_ _Killer behind Waseda serial killings finally discovered_ _,_ _Black Butterfly crime ring dismantled_ _), was seen disembarking a flight at the Los Angeles International Airport. Due to the relatively crime-free state of the Los Angeles area during the past few weeks, explanations for the Japanese detective's arrival in the States are wide-ranging and varied._

 _One such theory is that Kudou wanted to visit Kuroba Kaito, an award-winning actor known for his versatile acting ability and performance in blockbuster films such as "After You" and "Shine." The two-time Golden Globe winner is currently filming a sequel to his debut work (see:_ _"Homewrecker" breaks box office record_ _) in Hollywood._

 _Speculation about the nature of the relationship between the two Japanese natives has been widespread throughout the media for several years now, as they are evidently on very amicable terms. They share a joint Twitter account despite their differing careers and fanbases, and Kuroba often posts pictures of Kudou sleeping or videos of the two men spending time together doing things such as watching movies and playing soccer. According to an_ _online survey from 2013_ _, 62% of their combined fanbase believe the two men to be "in love", 31% believe they are "already dating," and 7% "do not care/have any opinion."_

 _Publically, neither Kudou nor Kuroba have denied or confirmed the allegations about their relationship. However, Kuroba is quoted as saying, "Oh, Shinichi? Yeah, we're totally married," at a 2014 comic convention, though the seriousness of the statement is unclear._

* * *

The interviewer was a pretty, well-kept woman, all wide, expressive blue eyes and bleached blonde hair and firecracker red lipstick. She wore a bright orange dress from one of those unpronounceably French brands that Ran liked to rave about whenever Shinichi got on the phone with her, and she was positively dripping with fake diamonds, from her long, dangling earrings to the anklet peeking out from underneath the hem of her dress.

She was also wearing the expression of someone who had just discovered they'd inherited a castle, several million dollars, and the deed to a goldmine. Shinichi, having seen it on the faces of so many other interviewers, internally sighed.

" _So_ ," the interviewer began in exaggerated, overenunciated English, looking at him with an expectant smile, "tell me about Mr. Kuroba."

 _Knew it_ , Shinichi thought forlornly, and coughed, shifting awkwardly in the hard wooden seat. Absently, he wondered why magazines and TV channels always provided such uncomfortable chairs for their interviews. He was going to have severe tailbone problems in the future, he could tell already. "What about Kaito?" he asked in an attempt at deflection.

Shinichi instantly knew he'd done something wrong when the interviewer's expression went positively gleeful and she leaned so far forward she almost fell out of her (much more comfortable) armchair. " _Kaito_ ," she said with emphasis. "You two are on a first-name basis, are you?" She grinned. "Isn't that rare for native Japanese speakers?"

"Uh, sort of," Shinichi hedged, running a hand through his hair (and ruining the hour of work his hairstylist had taken to painstakingly flatten his cowlicks. He could almost hear her sobbing backstage) in a bid to buy time. "We – well, um, I guess we know each other because we're both from Tokyo. And. Um."

"Right, right," the interviewer nodded, adopting an understanding expression. "But Tokyo isn't exactly a small place, is it? How did you two meet, exactly?"

"We…" Shinichi scratched at his ear. "We met at an, ah, event of sorts. He was doing a – performance of sorts." It sounded vague and kind of terrible, but it was probably better than _we met at a heist when I was three feet tall and he was stealing a pearl_.

"Do you mean one of his early magic shows? You two knew each other before his career began, correct?" the interviewer asked, enthralled as she waited for his response. Shinichi frowned – was Kaito's and his – association really that important?

"Uh – yes, something of the sort," he agreed after a pause.

The interviewer actually clapped with excitement. She looked like a demented seal, Shinichi thought uncharitably, and then immediately felt bad about it. "Oh, so you supported each other even before you grew in popularity!" There were practically stars in her eyes. "I heard that you flew out to LA while Mr. Kuroba was filming the sequel to _Homewrecker_ – did you visit him?"

"I mean, it wasn't – I just – I mean, technically I did, but –" Shinichi coughed. "Look, er – could we maybe talk about the bank robbers?" At the interviewer's blank expression, Shinichi tried, "The international ring of bank robbers that I helped catch? The one that was wanted for the theft of over eight billion dollars? You know, the reason why I'm doing this interview?"

The interviewer blinked at him.

Shinichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a migraine coming on. "You know what? Fine. I did fly out to LA to meet Kaito. He texted me saying that he missed me, and I didn't really have anything planned, so it wasn't a big deal."

Clasping her hands tightly in front of her, the interviewer erupted into high-pitched squealing that sounded reminiscent of bad brakes on a pickup truck, and yes, Shinichi was definitely going to have a migraine by the end of the interview.

* * *

 **i live for shinichi's cowlicks** _mnakaamura_ ∙ _Oct 29  
_ oh my god **shin_kai** are you guys dating? you have to be omgggg **#KaiShinIsReal  
** _Retweet_ (120) ∙ _Like_ (157)

 **Kudou Shinichi + Kuroba Kaito** _shin_kai_ ∙ _Oct 29  
_ **mnakaamura** i don't know, are we? ;) –k  
 _Retweet_ (48.4K) ∙ _Like_ (51.3K)

 **Kudou Shinichi + Kuroba Kaito** _shin_kai_ ∙ _Oct 30  
_ **mnakaamura** I sincerely apologize for Kaito. Please ignore him thx –S  
 _Retweet_ (9.8K) ∙ _Like_ (12.4K)

 **Kudou Shinichi + Kuroba Kaito** _shin_kai_ ∙ _Oct 30  
_ shinichi is being mean to me again :((( –k  
 _Retweet_ (15.6K) ∙ _Like_ (19.4K)

 **Kudou Shinichi + Kuroba Kaito** _shin_kai_ ∙ _Oct 30  
_ You're just trying to guilt trip me into dress up as Kaitou Kid for Halloween bc you live in the past & you're still obsessed with him –S  
 _Retweet_ (17.8K) ∙ _Like_ (21.9K)

 **Kudou Shinichi + Kuroba Kaito** _shin_kai_ ∙ _Oct 30  
_ like/retweet if u want to see shinichi dress up as kaitou kid for halloween! –k  
 _Retweet_ (112.2K) ∙ _Like_ (160.6K)

* * *

Kaito loved his fans, honestly. They were the reason he'd gotten so popular over only a handful of years, after all, and it was through their support that he was able to continue doing what he loved. He owed everything to his fans. They were great.

They were less great, however, when they broke into his hotel room at 2:49 a.m.

Rubbing his eyes, Kaito clutched the hotel phone a little tighter in his hand as the tiny girl sitting at the foot of his bed beamed adoringly at him. She couldn't have been over five feet tall and she was wearing a violently floral print dress and equally floral perfume, but she had also somehow managed to appear on his balcony. Of his penthouse suite. Which was at the top a forty-eight floor hotel.

It was hard to decide if he should be amused or terrified.

The girl continued to smile widely at Kaito as he waited desperately for someone down at the front desk to pick up. It was taking a long time, understandably enough (it _was_ about three in the morning; most of the concierges were probably off-duty).

"I'm a huge fan of yours, if you couldn't tell," the girl chirped in twangy, accented Japanese as she swung her legs idly. They didn't even touch the carpeted ground. Kaito broke out in a cold sweat.

"That's nice," he tried, hoping she couldn't smell fear as well as climb forty-eight floor buildings.

Oblivious, the girl continued on blithely. "I love your movies, Kuroba-san! I especially liked _Homewrecker_ and _Shine_. I think _Aphasia_ is really underrated, though. Your portrayal of Jun was really well done."

"I did like filming _Aphasia_ ," Kaito agreed, a little absently. Since that movie had been filmed in Nagoya, Shinichi had been present for much of the shoot, which was always a plus. Kaito smiled a little at the memory of Shinichi going over the script with a red pen, crossing out the overly flowery bits and more clichéd one-liners as he made tsking noises at the cowering scriptwriter.

Yes, _Aphasia_ had been one of his favorites.

"But anyway," the girl was saying when Kaito emerged from his thoughts, "I'm also a huge, huge fan of Kudou-san."

"Oh," Kaito replied after a beat, realizing that the girl was looking at him expectantly. "Yeah, it seems like we have a lot of shared fans, so. That's good to hear. Shinichi's really great."

"Isn't he," the girl agreed, but there was something challenging in her eyes. Leaning forward (Kaito leaned back, subtly), she demanded, "Are you two dating?"

"No," Kaito answered belatedly after praying wildly for someone to pick up the damn phone (no one did). Apparently he answered too slowly for the girl's taste, because she immediately narrowed her eyes at him.

"You guys have a shared Twitter and everything, though. Even though he's, like, a homicide detective and you're an actor." The girl leveled him with a shrewd _don't think you can hide from me_ sort of look.

"He's not specifically a homicide detective," was all Kaito could say. It sounded weak, even to him.

"And you flirt all the time on your Twitter," the girl went on, waving her hands. She was beginning to look a little dangerous. Possibly unhinged. Kaito jabbed the _call_ button on the handset again. "There was that whole thing with the dressing up as Kaitou Kid thing." She paused. "Did he actually do it?"

"Well," Kaito coughed, thinking back to Halloween night, and the girl seemed to take that as a yes.

"I knew it!" she crowed, flinging her arms out wide and almost knocking over the hand-painted ceramic floor lamp next to her elbow. She jabbed a finger at Kaito, who shrank back. "Kudou-san wouldn't dress up as a no-longer-relevant thief unless it was for _you_ , since you're so obsessed with him!" Her eyes looked slightly psychopathic.

It was at that moment that Kaito was legitimately contemplating diving out the window to escape, that someone, yawning loudly, finally picked up the phone. "'ello?"

" _Oh my God thank you please send someone up there's a girl in my room_ ," Kaito nearly sobbed before explaining the situation to a very confused concierge.

It took them another three minutes to send up a security guard, though. Those were the longest three minutes of Kaito's life.

* * *

 **Kudou Shinichi: Protecting his man? – POPPY Exclusive!**

 _Posted by_ _Miyamoto Aiko_ _(Editor-in-Chief), November 9_

 _So we all heard about the girl who broke into Kuroba Kaito's hotel room a few days ago (I mean, we've all dreamt about that too, so we can't really blame her for making the dream a reality) but we haven't heard about what Kaito's boyfriend, the serious (and gorgeous) Kudou Shinichi has to say about it! We here at POPPY got the scoop!_

 _In case you've been living under a rock or something and don't know about the two heartthrobs known as Kuroba Kaito and Kudou Shinichi, they're a pair of (totally married) guys from Tokyo. Kaito's an actor – he was honestly so adorable as Ken in_ After You – _and Shinichi's a detective, just like Sherlock, except hotter. We don't know how they met, exactly, except that it was probably at one of Kaito's early magic shows (if Kaito's magic shows are news to you, click_ _here_ _to learn more about Kaito's beginnings in stage magic!). At least, that's how Shinichi said they met in_ _this_ _interview. But ever since then, they've been super in love and definitely dating. They've even got a joint Twitter account (click_ _here_ _if you haven't experienced the joy that is the two of them flirting over tweets). Everyone's pretty sure that they're dating, even if they won't tell us. Probably because of their publicity agents, if we're being honest._

 _But anyway! A correspondent of ours managed to catch Shinichi just as he was leaving a crime scene in Hong Kong. When we asked about his reaction to Kaito's fan breaking into his hotel room, he frowned and said, "I think it's a bit of an invasion of personal space, don't you? I mean, I know Kaito definitely appreciates his fans, but it's a little scary to wake up and find some random girl in your room. It was rude of her to do that." He went on to say that he's "glad nothing happened to Kaito" and that he hopes "fans will be more respectful in the future."_

 _Well! If that doesn't sound like Shinichi being a protective boyfriend, we don't know what does. You protect your man, Shinichi!_

 _Check back for more updates on Kaito and Shinichi! Make sure to like and share this article with all of your fellow KaiShin loving friends!_

* * *

Ever since he'd heard about how Kaito's hotel room had been broken into (and the subsequent, frantic phone call he'd had with Kaito), Shinichi was a bit more cautious when he interacted with fans. He tried to tell himself he was being ridiculous, that most of his fans were perfectly sweet and innocent people, but then he remembered Kaito's rapid, too-fast panting over the crackly connection and his helpless " _I'm on the forty-eighth floor, Shinichi, how did she even get up here_ " and sort of – well, he didn't feel _bitter_ , quite, but he did feel mildly annoyed at the fans.

Now was no exception. Shinichi didn't know what had possessed him to willingly host a panel at a mystery convention, but he had, at some far point in the past, and now he was suffering for it.

Clearing his throat, Shinichi reached for the bottle of water the panel facilitator had given him. It was almost empty, despite that she'd given it to him less than five minutes ago. He couldn't even see the far wall of the conventional hall; all he could see were varying shades of hair color and Sherlock Holmes t-shirts and – oh, wow, someone had cosplayed as him. That was – flattering, but also sort of weird, considering the cosplayer appeared to be a fifteen-year-old girl. Shinichi looked away before he made eye contact with her.

Once the crowd had settled (as much as it probably would, considering there were well over eight hundred people jammed into one room), Shinichi tugged the mic closer to himself and tried, "Uh, hey, everyone." He had to wait for the high-pitched screaming to die down before he could continue. "So, uh, this is just a question and answer panel with me. I'm Kudou Shinichi, if you didn't know." Another round of eardrum-ruining shrieking. Shinichi wanted to clutch his ears and maybe take the next fight to Switzerland. "I'll be taking your questions. You can ask about anything, like my past cases or my interest or, you know, whatever. There's a microphone at the front of the room –"

The moment he spoke those words, there was a mad scramble for the microphone. Shinichi watched in horror as the microphone disappeared beneath a wriggling mountain of bodies. He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't have to solve some murders by the end of the panel.

Eventually, a skinny, red-faced teenager with a bad haircut and about as much muscle mass as a particularly unfit hamster somehow managed to seize control of the microphone. (Shinichi didn't understand how he'd done it, considering he was pretty sure he'd seen at least two bodybuilders in the fray.) Shoving his glasses up the damp bridge of his nose, he beamed up at Shinichi.

"Are you and Kuroba Kaito dating?" he fairly shouted into the microphone. An instant hush came over the crowd as every pair of eyes on the room latched onto Shinichi.

Shinichi was abruptly aware of the fact that he was sweating. He swept a hand across his forehead. It came away wet.

"Uh," he began, and someone in the back yelled, " _Kuroba Shinichi_!" just loud enough for him to hear. He blanched and drained the rest of his water bottle.

"Kaito is a great guy," Shinichi attempted once he had stalled as much as possible. He coughed uncomfortably. "He's just – really – really great."

"That's not an answer!" the guy holding the microphone insisted, pointing an accusatory finger at Shinichi. He was beginning to look more and more intimidating. As were the rest of the crowd. Even the fifteen-year-old cosplayer was starting to look like nightmare fuel.

With a sigh, Shinichi pushed a hand through his hair. "We're not – exactly dating," he muttered, defeated, and the crowd burst into chaos. Shinichi picked up, " _Oh my God love isn't real someone hold me_ ," "Not e _xactly_? What does _that_ mean? You're dating but not _exactly_?" and "This is _bullshit_ , their PR is such shit, this is so fake," before he dropped his head against the table and tried not to listen anymore.

The panel facilitator took the opportunity to emerge from the shadows and place a hand on Shinichi's shoulder. "Sorry about that. The fans can get a little overwhelming, especially at the more popular panels," she murmured at him, and Shinichi smiled weakly at her, glad for her companionship.

That was, until her hand tightened painfully on his shoulder and she demanded, expression fierce, "But what does _not exactly dating_ mean, exactly?" and Shinichi groaned and bashed his head against the table.

* * *

 **no more kaiao!**

∙ the-boy-from-ekodaa ∙  
Nov 18 ∙ 12:04 p.m.

 _I know we're all still heartbroken about "not exactly dating" (sob Shinichi why would you say that? Are you in denial or something? sob) but good news! (I mean, if you keep up with the KaiShin Twitter and stuff it's not new, but this is for the tumblr-only crowd lol.) Nakamori Aoko (you know, Kai-chan's childhood friend who everyone says is his girlfriend when they want to hate on KaiShin) just got married!_

 _Does anyone know about Hakuba Saguru? He's another detective (just like Shin-chan, but like not as famous I guess) and from what I've found out, Kai-chan, Aoko, and him went to high school together. He and Aoko finally got married! I guess they've been dating for a while or something? I don't really know the backstory but I'm super happy! They're really cute together too!_

 _& all you KaiAo shippers are going to be like "Oh Kai-chan was probably heartbroken over it" or something but no, he said on Twitter ( & omg I'm never going to get over the KaiShin Twitter omggg) that he's really really happy for them! (I think he did throw shade at Hakuba, but like not seriously, so) && I bet Kai-chan and Shin-chan were at the wedding too lol. They were probs the best men or something. They look so good in suits, too!_

 _So that means no more KaiAo! Guess that means KaiShin is the only real ship (I mean we all knew that already but still lol) Can't wait until Shin-chan gets back from Hong Kong! Who wants to bet that he's going to be the one to solve the case?_

Tagged: _#kaishin #kaiao #but imagine how great a kaishin wedding would be omggg #it would be so perfect #im crying i need to see that someday #(pretending 'not exactly dating' never happened) #kudou shinichi #kuroba kaito #nakamori aoko #hakuba saguru_

* * *

"I can't believe this," Aoko groaned, throwing herself over the arm of the sofa and nearly knocking over the potted plant that the interior decorator had insisted was the epitome of class (Kaito hadn't believed her, but when Shinichi had seen the plant, he hadn't seemed to mind, so). "I hate you, Kaito. Why am I your friend?"

Kaito shook his head at her as he strolled into the room, carrying a cup of tea and a jar of sugar cubes on the serving tray that had come with the kitchen. "Wow, the first thing you do when you come over to visit me after, like, four weeks is to tell me you hate me and question why we're friends." He unloaded the tea onto the plain white coffee table, pushing it in Aoko's direction. "What brought that on?"

In response, Aoko tossed her phone at Kaito. The only thing that saved him from a black eye was his fast reflexes. "Take a look at that," she mumbled into the couch cushions.

One eyebrow raised, Kaito thumbed the lock open on her phone and frowned at the webpages staring up at him. It was filled with articles and blog posts that basically said the same thing – "KaiAo" isn't happening, "KaiShin" is real, etc., etc. "What?"

"I get _married_ ," Aoko began, sitting up to glare at Kaito properly, "to the love of my life –"

"If the love of your life is _Hakuba_ , you already have issues without me being involved," Kaito muttered, shaking his head at her. Aoko gave him a look that could've frozen hell over (it was a look Kaito was fairly well acquainted with) before she continued on, waving her hands for emphasis.

"I get married to the love of my life after we've been dating for _eight years_ , the ceremony is held at _Bell Tree Tower_ , and somehow, it's _still_ about you and Kudou-kun. What have I done to deserve this?" She rubbed her face with her hand. "I must've been some kind of serial killer in my past life."

"I think your mistake was being friends with me in the first place," Kaito offered, throwing Aoko her phone as he sat down on the couch across from her. She caught it one-handed. "And anyway, why is this bothering you at all? When Mouri-san got married, she didn't mind the articles. She thought they were funny and sent Shinichi her favorite ones." Kaito had to smile at the memory of a mussed, sleep-soft Shinichi laughing at the articles over breakfast on a Sunday morning, showing Kaito the better parts between sips of coffee and bites of toast.

"Yes, because Ran-chan is a saint and Kudou-kun never deserved her to begin with." Aoko shook her head as she tucked her phone into her back pocket. "I seriously don't understand how she managed it. All your stupid 'KaiShin' fans gave her so much shit back before she got married just because she'd dated Kudou-kun at some point."

"When they were sixteen," Kaito felt the need to remind her. "Everyone makes mistakes at sixteen. And anyway, we told the fans to stop harassing her as soon as it started. Most of it had stopped by the time she got married." He jabbed a finger at her. "Don't forget that it's thanks to the precedent she set that you didn't get harassed at all when we first introduced you to the public."

Aoko snorted. "Sure, sure." She grinned, sudden and a little dangerous. Kaito felt a chill crawl down his spine. "So how are you feeling about you and Kudou-kun 'not exactly dating'? I imagine you're heartbroken over it." Her smirk sharpened. "At least, half the 'KaiShin' fans are."

"I mean…" Kaito shrugged, running a hand through his hair. He picked idly at a loose thread on his sweatpants. "He's right, you know. We're not exactly dating."

"Oh my God." Aoko laughed, shaking her head at him. "You two are _terrible_."

Kaito couldn't help but mirror her grin, albeit wryly. "We kind of are, aren't we?"

"When's he coming back?" Aoko wondered as she reached for the tea still sitting on the coffee table. She blew steam across its surface for a moment before she gave Kaito an inquisitive look over the rim of the cup. "He's out in – where is it, Singapore?"

"Hong Kong," Kaito answered automatically, thinking back to Shinichi's last text ( _I'm really sick of dim sum and murder please send help Kaito xxxx_ ). He sighed. "He should be back within the week."

"Pretty soon, then? You can hang on, Kaito. You've done it long enough." Aoko reached out to pinch his cheek teasingly, and Kaito swatted her hand away with a sound of annoyance, but he smiled as he did so.

* * *

 **HE DOES IT AGAIN! KUDOU SHINICHI CRACKS ANOTHER CASE**

by Takayama Kousuke (22/11)

 _In the past several weeks, Kudou Shinichi, the Japanese private investigator responsible for the resolution of hundreds of high profile cases, has been overseas, working with the Hong Kong Police Force on a series of formerly classified murders. The investigation had been ongoing for several months before Kudou arrived._

 _However, the serial killer, a forty-eight-year-old man named Justin Lowe originally from Trenton, New Jersey, was finally apprehended yesterday while attempting to assault his latest victim. Sources from the Hong Kong Police Force say that Kudou was a "real asset to the case" and that his "intelligence cannot be overestimated." Furthermore, the police commissioner issued a public statement thanking Kudou for his assistance and invited him to return whenever possible._

 _Kudou's fans have been ecstatic to hear of his success. Upon hearing of the case's resolution, Hattori Heiji, one of Kudou's friends, colleagues, and fellow investigators, tweeted the following: "Kudou does it again… wow I almost hate him for being so smart." Additionally, the president of the official Kudou Shinichi fanclub, Itodou Katsuki, posted an official proclamation on the club's website, stating, "We are so proud of our darling detective! (None of us are surprised that he solved the case, though.)"_

 _When asked, however, about his feelings regarding the conclusion of the case, Kudou himself replied, "I'm glad the case is resolved, obviously, but mostly I want to go home. I just miss Japan and all, you know?"_

 _It appears Kudou will get his wish soon. His flight back to his hometown of Tokyo, Japan, is scheduled to take place in one day, on the 23rd of November._

* * *

Rubbing at his eyes one-handed, Shinichi dragged his suitcase along behind him as he staggered through the front door and let it slam shut behind him. He sent the porcelain ballet dancer pirouetting gracefully in the entry corner (he probably shouldn't have listened to the interior decorator, to be honest) a baleful look. The flight home had been horrible – he'd been seated right in front of a screaming two-year-old, and the man on his right had been one of those people whose goal in life seemed to be telling anyone and everyone every single detail of their life story. Understandably, Shinichi was absolutely drained.

"I'm home," he mumbled as loudly as he could.

As if summoned by his words (which was probably an accurate description), Kaito came careening around the corner, dressed in – Shinichi's breath caught in his throat – one of Shinichi's Sherlock Holmes sweatshirts and old track pants. His hair stuck up on one side as if he'd just woken up and there was a hole in one knee of his pants, but he was grinning and bright-eyed and so, so beautiful.

Shinichi had barely a second's warning to drop his luggage before Kaito tackled him against the front door. His back hit the wood hard enough to make the ballerina rock dangerously in her corner and several windows rattle worryingly, but Shinichi ignored it in favor of kissing Kaito hello, one hand pressed to the curve of his spine and the other scooped around his jaw.

"I missed you," Kaito announced once they parted. Shinichi beamed at him, previous exhaustion forgotten.

"I missed you too, babe," he grinned, enjoying the way Kaito flushed at the appellation. He'd never get tired of that – Kaito, who could make a million suggestive comments and play every clichéd romantic lead known to humankind and generally be absolutely shameless without batting a long, perfect eyelash, never failed to blush at pet names. It was probably Kaito's only weakness.

Gently extricating himself from the cage of Kaito's arms – Kaito made a disgruntled noise; Shinichi dabbed a kiss on his temple in apology – Shinichi started towards the kitchen, intent on making himself a cup of coffee. "How was everything when I was gone?" he called over his shoulder.

"Terrible," Kaito grumbled. He leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, watching as Shinichi turned the coffeemaker on. "I got some offers, obviously – although I think I've been typecast as a smooth-talking playboy –"

"Accurate," Shinichi muttered, earning him a smirk from Kaito.

"– and Aoko came over to visit – she's doing great, although now that she's _Hakuba_ Aoko, I feel a little inclined to hate her –"

"You're ridiculous." Shinichi rolled his eyes. He'd never understand Kaito's weird rivalry with Hakuba.

"– but I missed you a lot," Kaito finished. He sauntered over to wrap his arms around Shinichi's waist and hook his chin over Shinichi's shoulder. "I feel like I haven't seen you in a really long time."

"I haven't seen you since before that awful convention. Since that whole crazy fan thing with the girl breaking into your room," Shinichi agreed, reaching back blindly to squeeze Kaito's bicep. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

He felt Kaito tense. "I'm – well, it was kind of scary. But honestly, I probably overreacted."

"You had every right to get upset," Shinichi disagreed. He slid the coffeepot into place with more force than necessary as the sounds of coffee percolating grew louder. "You were on the forty-eighth floor. I still don't understand how she got up there undetected. It says a lot about your security." He scowled. If a tiny teenage girl could break in Kaito's hotel room so easily, who knew who else could? "Maybe we should look into better security for you, Kai –"

"No, no," Kaito insisted, though his arms tightened around Shinichi. "That's not necessary. I've been fine up until now – she was the exception, not the norm."

"Hmph," Shinichi grunted, watching the coffee drip into the pot. "I still don't like it."

Kaito made a sound of long-suffering, but he bumped his cheek against Shinichi's in a sign of thankfulness.

"Hey, speaking of things that happened," he suddenly asked (Shinichi froze, because he could feel Kaito smirking against his neck, and that was a Very Bad Sign), "are you ever going to tell me what you were thinking with the whole 'not exactly dating' thing?"

"Oh, that." Shinichi relaxed perceptibly as the coffeemaker beeped. Pulling a cupboard open in search of his favorite mug (it was a Kuroba Kaito fan mug and had Kaito's hideously messy signature printed around it in a never-ending spiral), he said, "Well, it's technically true, you know."

"Technically," Kaito affirmed, patting Shinichi's hip. "I guess we're not exactly _dating_ at this point, are we?" He let Shinichi go long enough for Shinichi to pour the coffee and add cream. "I mean, we don't really go on dates anymore."

Snorting, Shinichi turned to lean against the kitchen counter. "Love, most people stop going on dates after they get married because they get busy with kids and adulthood and all that. It's a fact of life." He took a sip of coffee. "Although I guess we're more busy with acting and crime."

"I still think we should've told everyone when people started suspecting," Kaito remarked, flopping against the stove. He raised his eyebrows at Shinichi. "I mean, we can hardly do it now. Everyone's going to be either thrilled or pissed off that we kept it secret for so long."

Shinichi had to admit he was right. In hindsight, they probably _should've_ told the public that they'd been married for the past seven years long before anyone really cared about them as a couple, but at the time, Kaito hadn't been completely established as the brilliant actor he was, and Shinichi hadn't wanted him to lose his chances of success just because of some stupid discrimination. They probably could've told the truth once Kaito had won his first Golden Globe, but by then, "KaiShin" fans were rampant, and it probably would've led to some partial apocalypse or something. So they'd decided to hold off until the craze died down a bit.

Of course, the craze had never exactly died down, so.

"Well," Shinichi eventually sighed, draining his cup of coffee and slinging an arm around Kaito's shoulders, "I guess we'll just have to see where the future goes."

Kaito rolled his eyes, but Shinichi didn't miss the way he snuggled in closer. "I guess we will."

* * *

 **Ha... ha. Yeah.**

 **If you enjoyed this fic even a little, please consider dropping me a review and I'll see you all soon! - Luna**


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